A blog by Jay Livingston -- what I've been thinking, reading, seeing, or doing. Although I am a member of the Montclair State University department of sociology, this blog has no official connection to Montclair State University. “Montclair State University does not endorse the views or opinions expressed therein. The content provided is that of the author and does not express the view of Montclair State University.”

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Pryor Convictions

March 12, 2014Posted by Jay Livingston

Yesterday, I posted about the conservatives’ tendency to celebrate killing – so long as the killing is, in their view, justifiable. When the moderator at a Republican primary debate cited the record number of people executed in Texas under Governor Perry, the audience cheered.

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We don’t know how long the applause would have continued if Brian Williams hadn’t interrupted.

I’m now reminded of a similar audience reaction – the inmates at Folsom Prison listening to Johnny Cash and cheering at this line in “Folsom Prison Blues”

To paraphrase the journalist I quoted asking about the people lining up for George Zimmeman’s autograph: Who are these people cheering when Cash sings “I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die”?” The answer is simple. They’re criminals; some of them are killers. That’s why they’re in prison.

And to quote Richard Pryor, “Thank God we got penitentiaries.”

(The line comes early in the clip from “Live on the Sunset Strip” (1982) . (If it doesn't load, go here). But if you have forgotten, as I had, just how good Pryor was, watch the whole thing.)

I imagine how Pryor might react these days:

Y’know, but there’s a difference. Them motherfuckers yelling about shootin’ a man in Reno – they was in the joint. They get out, they can’t even vote. Motherfuckers cheering for killing more people with executions and stand your ground and shit – they run half the states in the country.

1 comment:

As with any group, there is an uncouth fringe. Gun owners are no exception but for the most part we don't 'cheer' when we hear about a shooting.

We don't celebrate death. We do point out if someone is killed, shouldn't it be the criminal?

The people pushing against "Stand your ground", pushing for more obstacles in owning and carrying a firearm, pushing for ever more restrictions -- why are they doing things that make it safer for the criminals?